President Rodrigo Duterte warned Arab states that he may order the repatriation of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) if the controversial ‘kafala’ scheme is not dismantled.
In his final State of the Nation Address (SONA), the President said: “We call on the world to dismantle the heinous Kafala system because the Filipino is no slave to anyone, anywhere. And there is no room for modern-day slavery,” he said.
Duterte called the sponsorship system acts as a “set-up for slavery”.
“To everybody in the Middle East, I would like to tell them – not only Filipinos but all human beings – the kafala has no place there because it’s a set-up for slavery. I dare you, correct it or we’ll ask our workers, Filipino workers abroad, to go home,” he said.
Under the kafala system, the sponsor is usually the employer who is responsible for the immigration status and visa of the migrant worker. Workers are not allowed to leave without their employers’ consent, making them vulnerable to abuse.
